<<Honestly, my stress levels go up exponentially if I have to listen to crappy music first thing in the morning!>> Me too, which is why I don't do it! This morning I drove in listening to Bruuuuce's new live one, and it put me in an amazingly great mood. The song was "Out In The Streets", and like so many of the songs the band performs on this set, he has taken what was a simple song and expanded it to a much larger concept... The song in its studio incarnation was a statement from a blue collar guy who worked his day job, but at night could "walk the way I wanna walk" and asked his girlfriend to meet him out on the street and they'd hang out. But live, Bruce first shouts "New York, SIT DOWN" repeatedly, which of course whips them into a frenzy, and then he busts into the song, and significantly gives a line in the chorus to Patti, Nils, & Clarence, each of them singing "Meet me out in the street..." So the song turns into an invitation to the audience, both there in NY and those listening to the CD to join him and the E-Streeters and meet him in the "streets" of this concert event! It's a wonderful moment, and only one of literally dozens on this collection. And anyone who thinks Springsteen's best years are BEHIND him need only to listen to the chilling "American Skin (41 Shots)" & "Land of Hope & Dreams"... Like Joni, Bruce proves that maturing in the rock spotlight is not only possible, but additionally can open up whole new worlds of truth & beauty. Bob NP: Steve Miller, "Going to Mexico"
